The Case for Closing the Curtain on Required Shakespeare
Picture a typical high school English classroom. A teacher stands before rows of students, holding a worn copy of Romeo and Juliet. Excited murmurs? More often, you’ll hear resigned sighs and see furrowed brows. The text opens. Words like “wherefore,” “thou,” and “doth” land like bricks. Eyes glaze over. Confusion mounts. The beautiful, timeless themes of love, conflict, and identity get lost in a linguistic maze. This scenario begs a critical question: Do we really need to keep teaching Shakespearean texts and language as a cornerstone of modern education?
The arguments for Shakespeare are familiar, often resting on pillars of tradition and perceived cultural capital. “He’s the greatest writer in the English language!” “It’s foundational!” “Students need exposure to the classics!” But let’s be honest: these justifications often feel more like inherited dogma than a thoughtful response to the needs of 21st-century learners. The reality is that forcing all students to grapple with Early Modern English texts often creates barriers, not bridges, to appreciating literature and developing critical skills.
The Linguistic Wall: More Obstacle Than Gateway
The most immediate hurdle is the language itself. Shakespearean English is fundamentally different from contemporary English. Vocabulary is archaic (“fain,” “wherefore,” “perforce”), sentence structures are complex and inverted, and idiomatic expressions often require constant footnoting. For many students – especially those for whom English isn’t their first language, those with learning differences, or those simply not predisposed to linguistic puzzles – this creates an instant disconnect.
Focus Shifts from Meaning to Decoding: Instead of immersing themselves in the plot, characters, and universal themes, students spend immense mental energy simply trying to decipher what is being said. The profound questions about ambition in Macbeth or prejudice in The Merchant of Venice get buried under the struggle to understand basic sentence structure. The literature becomes a chore, not a source of inspiration or insight.
Diminished Engagement: When the initial experience is frustration and confusion, it breeds resentment. Students disengage. They turn to summaries, SparkNotes, or simply tune out. The goal of fostering a lifelong love of reading? It’s actively undermined when the first major encounter with “great literature” feels like an impenetrable code.
Questioning the “Cultural Imperative”
The argument that Shakespeare is “essential cultural knowledge” needs scrutiny. While his influence on the English language and Western literature is undeniable, is fluency in Hamlet truly more relevant to navigating contemporary society than understanding systemic inequality, digital literacy, or global perspectives?
Diversity Matters: Our literary canon should reflect the diverse world students inhabit. Insisting on Shakespeare as non-negotiable marginalizes voices that speak more directly to the experiences of many students. Prioritizing texts by authors of color, women, LGBTQ+ writers, and writers from varied global backgrounds offers richer, more inclusive perspectives on the human condition. Studying Toni Morrison, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Maxine Hong Kingston, or Kazuo Ishiguro can provide equally profound explorations of universal themes while also validating diverse identities and experiences.
Relevance is Key: Students engage deeply when they see themselves and their world reflected in the curriculum. Themes of social media pressure, climate anxiety, identity politics, or economic disparity resonate powerfully. Contemporary novels, plays, and non-fiction offer immediate relevance that centuries-old texts, despite their timeless themes, often struggle to achieve without significant contextual labor from the teacher and student.
Beyond “Greatness”: Developing Skills for Today
The core skills we want students to develop in English class – critical thinking, analytical reading, persuasive writing, empathy, cultural understanding – are not exclusive to Shakespeare. They can be cultivated using texts that are accessible and engaging now.
Building Confidence: Starting students with accessible, compelling contemporary texts builds confidence in their reading abilities. They learn to analyze character motivation, identify themes, and dissect authorial craft without the constant friction of archaic language. This confidence is the bedrock for tackling more complex texts later, if they choose to.
Modern Complexity: To suggest modern literature lacks depth is simply untrue. The intricate narratives of Margaret Atwood, the stylistic innovations of George Saunders, the social commentary of Angie Thomas, or the complex world-building of speculative fiction offer ample material for rigorous analysis. These texts often grapple with contemporary ethical dilemmas and nuances that feel immediate and urgent.
Media Literacy: Focusing on diverse modern texts, including non-fiction, journalism, graphic novels, and even digital media, better equips students for the information landscape they navigate daily. Analyzing rhetoric, bias, and narrative structure in contemporary sources is arguably more crucial than parsing iambic pentameter.
A New Approach: Choice and Context, Not Compulsion
This isn’t an argument for banning Shakespeare. He absolutely has a place – but perhaps not the mandated, central place he currently occupies.
Offer Choice: Why not make Shakespeare an option within a broader, diverse curriculum? Offer dedicated electives or advanced modules for students genuinely interested in delving into his work and its historical context. Let passion, not compulsion, drive the study.
Focus on Adaptations: Explore his themes and stories through modern adaptations – film, theatre, graphic novels, or novelizations. These can make the core narratives and characters accessible and exciting before potentially introducing the original text for those interested in the linguistic artistry.
Context Over Compulsion: If Shakespeare is included in a core curriculum, significantly reduce the emphasis on linguistic decoding. Focus instead on the stories, the characters, the enduring themes. Use excerpts rather than whole plays. Connect them explicitly to modern parallels. Treat the language as a fascinating historical artifact to observe, not a fluency to be mastered.
The Final Act: Prioritizing the Learner
Insisting on teaching Shakespearean texts and language as a universal requirement often prioritizes tradition and perceived cultural prestige over the actual educational needs and engagement of students. It builds walls where we should be building pathways. The goal of English education shouldn’t be to produce students who can quote “To be, or not to be,” but to nurture critical thinkers, empathetic readers, and effective communicators who find joy and meaning in the written word.
It’s time to shift the focus. Let’s fill our classrooms with vibrant, diverse, relevant literature that speaks to students’ lives and futures. Let’s build confidence and skills with accessible texts. And for those drawn to the Bard? Let them discover him through choice and passion, not force-fed obligation. The curtain call for compulsory Shakespeare isn’t about diminishing his legacy; it’s about opening the stage for a richer, more inclusive, and ultimately more effective literary education for everyone. The future of reading depends on meeting students where they are, not forcing them to bridge a 400-year linguistic gap before they can even begin to appreciate the story.
Please indicate: Thinking In Educating » The Case for Closing the Curtain on Required Shakespeare